A software package system is used to install, uninstall, configure, and update (collectively referred to as “package acts”) a software package (also referred to as “software application”) on a computer system with relative ease and consistency. A software package system typically includes a first sub-system that includes a software package on which these package acts are to be performed and a software package tool to hold relevant information about the software package, and a second sub-system including a software package manager (e.g., Red Hat package manager (“RPM”) package manager) (“RPM package manager”, a recursive acronym) and a corresponding .spec file (“spec file”).
A spec file contains relevant information in a particular format to help a package manager facilitate package acts on a software package. Further, a spec file is an important part of RPM building process and, for example, helps a package manager direct how a software package is to be configured, what files and where are to be installed, and what system-level activities need to occur before and after a package act is to be performed, etc. A spec file includes multiple sections of information and values relating to identification and characteristics of a software package that is part of a software package system and on which package acts are to be performed. Although there are certain characteristics that are shared by any number of software packages, since each software package has its own identification and particular characteristics, a compatible spec file is needed for each software package so that the relevant package acts can be performed. However, today's conventional techniques for generating spec files involve manual and inefficient processes for generating spec files and, given the need for generating a separate and compatible spec file for each software package, such conventional techniques turn into convoluted and cumbersome processes.
Conventional techniques involve processes that are slow, tedious, and inefficient and require a great amount of human time to be invested by, for example, a software developer/programmer. In addition, these conventional techniques are error-prone, primarily due to the human factor which is an integral part of manual generation of spec files. Of course, for any spec file to work, these errors have to be corrected, which requires additional human time and labor. Moreover, in conventional techniques, the information that is needed to generate a spec file is obtained from diverse sources that may contain errors of its own, which, again, requires additional investment of developer/programmer time and labor.